Car Review: 2010 Honda Insight hybrid

Hybrid without the hype

I hope Honda is right about this. Its entire premise for the new Insight is that the demographic most interested in driving green — 20-to-35-year-old Gen X/Yers — are the least likely to be able to afford the hybrid-powered vehicles that promote clean driving.Honda’s challenge, then, is to deliver the first hybrid that is not only frugal on fuel but also cheap to buy.

The specific question the Insight will answer — and this is one hybrid naysayers have been asking for for almost a decade — is whether a gasoline/electric car can be affordable enough to compete with conventional cars on a simple value-for-the-dollar basis.The naysayers, and I have been among them, note that any vehicle requiring the addition of an electric motor and a large battery pack on top of the gasoline engine and transmission must necessarily be more expensive than the conventionally powered automobile. Adherents counter that they have not yet seen a price-conscious hybrid and that economies of scale will allow a significant price reduction. That Honda promises to sell 200,000 of the little Insights should provide the proof for at least one of the two arguments.

So, who is right?

Unfortunately, those looking for a definitive answer will be disappointed as both sides of the discussion can find debating points on the new Insight.

For one thing, Honda Canada hasn’t set an official price for the car yet, only commenting that it’s targeting the $19,000 to $25,000 price range. The former would represent a phenomenal bargain; the latter the same overpricing that has been a hybrid trait for 10 years. Where the 2010 Insight ends up on that scale will determine how strong a pro-hybrid argument Honda Canada can make.

On the other hand, no matter what the final pricing, contrarians can easily counter that the Insight’s cost reductions have nothing to do with the reduced cost of the hybrid drive systems but rather the cheapening of the materials used in more traditional areas of automotive construction. Indeed, Honda has radically reduced the quality of materials in the new Insight. The interior cloth trim — seats, doors, etc. — is incredibly thin, the flimsiest such cloth seen in a Honda since an early ’90s Civic. Ditto the roof liner, which gives new meaning to the term “rat’s fur.” The interior’s plastics are not much better. Though the dashboard is reminiscent of the Civic’s futuristic gauge display, its plastic surround is not nearly of such high quality. The cabin is truly Spartan. Aside from power window controls and the centre stack’s radio, the Insight’s interior is as barren as a Hyundai Accent’s.

The exception would be Honda’s gauge display, which is more video game than an information source. The speedometer, for instance, turns from blue when you’re hot-footing it to green when you are driving frugally. There’s a display for fuel economy — both average and instantaneous — as well as other key information. There’s also an Eco Guide display that rewards you an ever larger number of trees (to a maximum of five) for more environmentally conscious driving. And, lest you think my allusion to a video game is of my own imagination, should you achieve those five trees long enough, you are congratulated with a digital trophy and wreath.

None of this diminishes the fact that the Insight delivers excellent fuel economy. The 88-horsepower, 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine and the 13-hp Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) brushless electric motor combined deliver a Transport Canada fuel economy rating of 4.8 litres per 100 kilometres in the city and 4.5 L/100 km on the highway.

More importantly, in real-world driving, the Insight remains frugal (though not as fuel-sipping as the original 1.0L, three-cylinder/IMA Insight, which, according to Honda, is still the most economical mass-produced vehicle ever sold). Honda Canada held a little fuel economy contest at the Phoenix press introduction. While my cohorts all drove like the mythical little old lady from Pasadena, I drove the Insight normally and still achieved 46 miles per gallon. Those were those small American gallons, which means I was sipping along at 55 miles per Imperial gallon. In metric terms, it is a very commendable 5.1 L/100 km.

As well, it should be noted that, with one glaring exception, the new Insight offers the most sophisticated hybrid drivetrain. At all but elevated speeds, it’s a model of civility with little noise, vibration and harshness marring its comportment. It’s also responsive. One can’t really claim, as Honda tries, that it is sporty. But, then, neither is it poky. It always feels sufficient and, unlike sports cars enthusiasts, the committed enviroweenie thinks enough is always enough.The one flaw, however, is when you boot it. The little 1.3L is hooked up to a CVT transmission, which, under full acceleration, holds the engine at about 6,000 rpm for maximum power. It also results in maximum noise. Seldom has such a cacophony resulted from something so small. It offers all the sonic appeal of a sheep bleating before slaughter.

The new Insight is excellently engineered. Nonetheless, it opens up as many questions as it answers. Will it be cheap enough to attract 5,000 Canadian Gen X/Yers (for that is Honda Canada’s ambition) so they can play video games while they save the planet? Is its anticipated price reduction simply a result of traditional cost-cutting measures or has Honda found some economies of scale in hybrid production? The answers are critical because hybrid vehicles are coming to their tipping point. Can they viably replace the traditional automobile on a value-for-the-money basis or are they doomed to remain a mere trinket for the environmentally conscious, wealthy do-gooder anxious to trumpet his moral superiority?

Keeping the sky blue and grass green is something Honda has been trying to achieve for some time. Back in 1974, Honda’s quest for a greener form of transportation started with its CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine.

It was, in essence, a lean-burn engine. Fast-forward to 1999 and Honda introduced the oddly styled Insight. Using a small 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine, an electric motor and radical aerodynamics, this small two-seater boasted a terrific city fuel economy of 3.9 litres per 100 kilometres. After a three-year hiatus, the second-generation Insight is set to go on sale on April 22 — Earth Day.

This time around, the Insight earns a proper four-cylinder engine (the old three-banger made an awful racket when it was forced to work) and Honda’s fifth-generation Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system. The latter consists of an electric motor that’s sandwiched between the engine and continuously variable transmission, and a 128-volt battery that’s housed beneath the trunk floor. The design is such that it does not intrude on the usable side of the Insight.

Unlike the original, which had very little trunk space, this model boasts a usable 15.9 cubic feet with the 60/40-split rear seat upright and 31.5 cu. ft. with it folded down. The 1.3L iVTEC (intelligent Variable Valve Timing and Electronic Lift Control) engine produces what on paper, at least, look like weak numbers — 88 horsepower and 88 pound-feet of torque. However, when teamed with the electric motor’s 13 hp and 58 lb-ft of torque at 1,000 rpm, the system delivers a combined output of 98 hp and 123 lb-ft of torque anywhere between 1,000 and 1,500 rpm.

The early entry of the torque makes the Insight feel rather spry when the gas is goosed. However, speed is not the Insight’s forte — this car is all about fuel economy. The official numbers rate the Insight at 4.8 L/100 km in the city and 4.5 L/100 km on the highway.

A big part of the reason for the frugal consumption numbers is down to the fact the electric motor can power the car on its own. No, the Insight cannot move off the line using electric power alone because it is a series hybrid system where everything is in line, but when the loads are light and the speeds are moderate, the engine shuts down and allows the electric side to keep things moving.

Unlike the other versions of Honda’s i-VTEC system, which are normally used to promote performance, this one is used to close all of the valves in the engine when the hybrid system goes to its electric-only mode. Shutting all of the valves when the engine shuts off reduces the pumping losses, which cuts the drag the engine would otherwise place on forward progress (think of it as reducing the amount of engine braking).

There’s also an Econ mode.

When engaged, the idle stop comes in earlier (the engine shuts down when the Insight comes to a full stop to conserve fuel), the manner in which the air conditioning operates changes (it runs in recirculation mode more often), the blower fan speed is reduced and it remaps the throttle. The latter reduces torque output by 4% and it requires more pedal input to open the throttle than it does in the normal driving mode. If your go to full throttle, the Econ mode automatically shuts off to give the desired response. As soon as you lift off the gas,Econ resumes its fuel-saving ways.

It also adopts a more economy-friendly cruise strategy. Normally when the cruise is set, the car tends to slow slightly and so the gas is gunned to get the car back to the set speed as quickly as possible. In this case, the return to speed is done slowly, which saves precious drops of fuel.

The proof of just how good the fuel economy is when the Insight is driven with an eye to conservation came through loud and clear on a 27.8-km fuel economy run. Twenty kilometres into the drive, the Insight’s average fuel economy was 5.35 L/100 km. Good, but not what I consider great. However, once I mastered the art of coaxing the electric motor to do more of the work, the average economy began to skyrocket. The best I attained was a reading of 3.46 L/100 km! Now, that’s what I call miserly.

At the end of the drive, I managed to squeeze an amazing average fuel economy of 3.83 L/100 km out of the Insight, and that was with a passenger aboard and on a rainy day where the large puddles slowed the car’s progress.

Now, if you suspect I physically pushed the Insight to achieve the fuel economy, you would be wrong. I completed the city loop at an average speed of 51.2 km/h. In fact, I drove at the speed limit in all areas other than those posted at 80 km/h — I elected to limit my top speed to 75 km/h.